Aeternal
by Yumi Hiroko
Summary: Sometimes first reactions can royally mess your life up. Especially when the person on the other end of that reaction ends up moving into your house.[Cover Made on RinmaruGames]
1. First Reaction

**Disclaimer: Any characters or places that are familiar to you from My Babysitter's a Vampire obviously don't belong to me. **

**Edited April 2015.**

* * *

Aeternal

Chapter 1: First Reaction

Grandma Weir stirred a pot of simmering chocolate in the kitchen. "Benny!" she called across the house.

"Yeah?!" the boy in question replied. He was comfortably hunkered down in the living room, his nose in a book. Unfortunately, the book was in Latin, and Benny did not know Latin. He liked to pretend he did, but he didn't, so he had no idea what he was reading. He hoped that if he read it enough, the answers to how to read it would suddenly present themselves. It never really occurred to him to look up the words online or anything. Didn't they have translation sites? Suddenly, Benny felt very stupid and a bit exasperated. How come he didn't think of a website before?

"Get in here!" Grandma ordered, slapping her wooden spoon on the edge of the metal pan. The clang was muted, but still very audible for the teenage boy in the next room. He had heard that sound before, right before his grandma turned him into a frog for an evening because he procrastinated when she called. He hopped up and was in the kitchen as fast as his ridiculously long legs could carry him.

"Yeah?" he asked, ducking his head around the doorway. He wanted a chance to duck if she planned on hurling anything at him.

"You going to the mall with Ethan today?" she asked, spoon once again swirling the milk chocolate.

"Yeah, we were going to get Zombie Ninjas III today," his voice rose a pitch in excitement, all his unfounded fears about his grandma dissolving. He walked into the kitchen and his lips split in a wide grin.

So did Grandma, but more sweetly and for a different reason. "While you're there, would you mind picking up a book for me?"

"Sure." Benny's eyes drifted toward the stove, wondering what his grandma was cooking. Whatever it was, it smelled delicious. "What's it called?"

"Oh, I just need a Latin Dictionary. I was going to give it to-"

Benny zoned out after he heard the word "Dictionary" and he looked at the clock. He was already ten minutes late getting out the door! "Oh no," Benny yelped, jolting and causing his grandma to jump. He kissed her on the cheek, barely registering that she was still talking to him. "Love you, Grandma. Gotta go. Bye."

"Benjamin!" Grandma Weir yelled to his disappearing back.

()()()()()

Benny ground to a halt in front of the mall carousel. The horses spun up and down to a song with exactly four measures on constant repeat. Ethan was leaning against a pillar, arms crossed, and looking thoroughly ticked off. "Dude," Benny huffed. He could barely breathe. Thankfully, Ethan saw him and walked over, annoyance fading.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Can't… breathe…" Benny puffed, only slightly exaggerating. He took a couple more minutes to steady his heart rate and straightened out. "So? What'd I miss?" Ethan had been convinced to go the mall with his mom and sister, but only because his mom promised to give him the money for Zombie Ninjas III. Benny figured he'd spent the morning watching them go through clothes in the department stores.

Ethan rolled his eyes. "Me getting ready to bash my brains in. Let's get the the game store all ready." He turned and they started walking. Benny couldn't convince him to elaborate, which annoyed him greatly. He wanted to hear his best friend whine just so he could laugh until his sides hurt.

The duo ended up talking about the possibilities of the game-Zombie Ninjas II had such a cliffhanger!-and where they were going to play when they got back home. Fortunately, they managed to get the very last copy of the game in the store.

"I'm telling you-Wait." Benny stopped short, right by the fountain. "Darn. I forgot. We have to stop by the bookstore. Grandma needs me to pick up a dictionary." They made a U-turn, Ethan falling into step with practiced ease.

They entered the bookshop, carefully hidden in a remote corner of the mall so that only people who were really interested in books could find it. Ethan was quickly distracted by the comics, and, even though Benny wanted to join him, he had promised his grandma that he would pick up the dictionary, so he sighed and moved on.

"Dictionary, dictionary," he muttered to himself, eyes scanning the shelves as quickly as he could. Eventually, he found a paperback copy of a Latin to English dictionary. It seemed like it was just his day, because there was only one copy left on the shelf. Then, the most cliche thing in the history of all cliches happened, and Benny knew it was an icky cliche the second it happened. Benny reached for the book and his hand collided with someone else's.

This someone else, big surprise, happened to be a girl, probably about Benny's age. Her hair was a dark, almost dirty shade of blonde, her skin was had the slight tan of being outside too much, and when Benny turned to look at her, he saw that her eyes were a shockingly bright blue. "Sorry," she said quietly.

"It's okay," Benny replied, smiling. "You can have it."

The girl simply stared at him, then turned on her heel and walked away, leaving the book on the shelf. "No thanks," she called back.

Benny remained in the aisle, staring at the direction she had gone, when Ethan found him. He sighed and picked up the dictionary. "BENNY!" he shouted, making sure he was close to his ear. However, he was smart enough not to shout loud enough to get the attention of an employee.

Benny didn't even wince. "I feel funny… " he said, which was true. His heart was racing, his palms were hot, and regret the size of Michigan laid heavy on his heart. Why didn't he ask for her name?! He'd flirted with dozens of girls at school with ease, but this girl was possibly the most beautiful he'd ever seen, and he couldn't say a word.

Ethan sighed. "Okay. Let's buy this and go."

They made their way to the checkout, then out the door, then walked their way to the bus stop, and Benny just acted like a zombie the entire time. Even once they were on the bus, all he did was stare out the window, and nothing Ethan could say or do would snap him out of it.

()()()()()

Benny and Ethan walked through the door, the former's head very much in the clouds. "Grandma!" Ethan called, guiding Benny through the front door. Benny's eyes were glazed over, but he could sense Ethan's desire to whack him.

"In here, Ethan! I have someone for you guys to meet!" Grandma Weir called from the kitchen.

Ethan smiled, probably hoping for brownies. He could devour trays of Grandma's brownies. He effectively maneuvered the still comatose Benny through the living room.

Benny stopped dead in the kitchen doorway, and Ethan couldn't convince him to move another step. "Uhhh… Benny," he said, waving his hand in front of his friend's eyes only for it to be looked through and ignored. Benny was far more interested in the fourth person in the house; a girl with long dirty blonde hair in a messy braid and striking oceanic eyes.

"Hi, I'm Deloria Mitchell," said the voice of the girl. "Looks like we're going to be foster siblings." She smiled at Benny politely and held out her hand. Somehow, he felt like he was lying in a coffin, and the final nail had just pounded itself in.

* * *

**End of Chapter.**

**Big thanks to my Beta TiredofBeingNice.**

**LeAcH**


	2. Fatal Attraction

**Disclaimer: If you recognize a character from MBAV, then I do not own it.**

* * *

Aeternal

Chapter 2: Fatal Attraction

"Hi, my name is Deloria Mitchell," she said, extending her hand to her new foster brother. She smiled at him politely. She tried her hardest to make it seem as natural as possible. She should have known something was going to happen when the fizzy feeling in her stomach intensified. She had been about to ask Mrs. Weir if she had anything when the two boys walked through the doorway.

"Deloria," Mrs. Weir replied, pointing at the taller of the two brunettes, "this is my grandson, Benny. He's the one I was telling you about. And this is Ethan Morgan, Benny's best friend. He's around a lot."

The shorter one, Ethan, waved at her, smiling awkwardly. He seemed more preoccupied with the fact that his friend was staring ahead like a zombie.

Well, to be more precise, he was staring at her. Deloria did her best to be as cordial as she could possibly manage, even though all she wanted to do was run the other way. Out the door and on the bus, as far away as she feasibly could.

Mrs. Weir put her aged hand on Deloria's shoulder. "Let me show you to your room." She led her out of the kitchen, right past the statuesque Benny, and up the stairs. They passed a door criss-crossed with caution tape and one with a flower on the handle. They stopped at the last door in the hall, a plain white one, for anyone that's interested, and pushed it open. "Here we are."

The room itself was relatively spacious, considering all that was inside was a bed, a dresser, a bookshelf, and a desk, all the same shade of mahogany brown. "Thank you," Deloria said. She had left her duffle downstairs, she'd have to bring it up later.

"Deloria," Mrs. Weir said. "I just want you to know... You're welcome here as long as you like. You don't have to worry about being moved again. This room, you can make it your own. Add posters, paint it, whatever you'd like."

She seemed really nice. Deloria's eyes started to well with tears. It wasn't the first time she had heard the speech, and it certainly wasn't going to be the last. "Thank you, Mrs. Weir."

She waved the formality away. "You can call me Grandma."

Deloria smiled and nodded. "Could..." She hesitated. She'd never been placed in a home with an elderly caregiver, and if this house didn't work out, she wasn't sure she'd ever be able to use the endearment again. But… She crossed her fingers. Here's hoping. "Could I call you Gma instead?"

Grandma Weir grinned, happiness shining in her wizened eyes. "I'd consider it an honor."

Aeternal

"Dude... I'm so screwed," Benny stated. He was staring at the stairs.

Ethan shook his head. He knew that look. Not too many months ago he was staring at Erica with that same blank gaze. "Yup."

Finally, Benny's eyes snapped to Ethan. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Ethan sighed. He couldn't believe he actually had to explain this. "I'm pretty sure you're crushing on your new foster sister, and I'm ninety percent sure that's illegal."

"Yeah… I'm so screwed," Benny repeated. He sounded like he hadn't quite figured out how to let it sink in yet.

Ethan shook his head and patted his friend on the shoulder. "I'm gonna go. See you later, B."

Aeternal

Later that night, Deloria was lying in her new room, under new, peach-colored blankets, with her mind twisting and turning in a million different directions. She couldn't stop thinking about her trip to the bookstore. She and her handler, Veronica, were a good half hour ahead of schedule, so she let Deloria get off for a short trip to the nearest Barnes &amp; Noble. They were still early getting to the Weir house. So early, in fact, that when Benny and Ethan walked in half an hour later, Veronica was already down the street and around the corner.

Deloria sighed heavily and lifted herself out of bed. She quietly descended the stairs, not wanting to wake the other occupants. However, once she reached the foot and turned the corner, she saw that the light in the kitchen was on.

Curious, she rounded the corner and saw her new foster brother leaning over the counter. He was biting his lip, so intent on whatever it was he was trying to do. She watched him for awhile, but he didn't seem to notice her. But the longer she watched, the more her legs started to hurt, and she couldn't stand… standing any longer. "What are you doing?" she asked, entering the kitchen.

Benny jumped. "What are you? Some sort of ninja?" He paused, seeming to think about what he just said. "No. Really. Are you?"

Deloria laughed internally and sat down at the counter. "No. You would have noticed me if you'd been paying attention." She glanced at the book he'd been pouring over. "Why are you reading a book in Latin?" Her gaze travelled the countertop. "With no dictionary? Unless you're fluent, then you wouldn't need one, but you looked like you were struggling." She paused and snapped her fingers. "What about the one from the bookstore? You bought it didn't you?"

Benny just stared at her. Not condescending or mean, just… puzzled.

She waved at him. "Hello? Are you special ed or something?"

Benny shook his head to both clear it and negate her assumption. "Grandma wanted me to buy it for her. Don't remember what she wanted it for though. I don't even know what she did with it."

Deloria waved at the book. "What were you attempting anyway?"

Automatically, and rather pointlessly, Benny snapped the book shut and moved it across the counter. "Reading it. Latin is hard, even if a lot of it looks like English."

Deloria tilted her head and cocked her eyebrow. "You do realize that English has a lot of Latin roots?"

Benny shook his head. "Don't even mention roots."

Deloria sensed a good story, but also that he wasn't likely to share it with her. They lapsed into an uncomfortable silence. Suddenly, Deloria's stomach growled, which caused Benny to chuckle. "What kind of foods do you like?" he asked, reaching for the fridge.

Deloria snapped her fingers. "Better idea. Let's play a game."

Benny paused, puzzled. "Why?"

"Because I'm bored, and you're bored, and games are a known way to alleviate boredom."

"Okaaaaaaay. What are the rules?"

Deloria smirked. "I tell you what to make, and you make it. From scratch."

Benny cocked an eye and waved his arms around melodramatically. "Where's the challenge?!"

"I never said you could use a cookbook."

Aeternal

An hour later, after an order to make pancakes, Benny was covered in flour, and Deloria was sitting in the only clean portion of the kitchen. "Tada!" Benny sang, placing a plate with two almost circular flapjacks on the counter with a flourish. "Bon appetite."

Deloria was impressed that this set wasn't burnt, leaking, or concave, and she could actually cut into it. Warily, she dipped it in the small saucer of syrup (no use wasting it when the batch might be inedible) and popped it in her mouth. She felt it crunch. "Too many eggshells."

"Awww, man," Benny griped, facepalming and sending a cloud of flour to drift about his head. He sneezed.

"You just need more practice." Deloria looked at the clock, four in the morning. "You should get to bed. Don't you have school tomorrow?"

"What about the pancakes?!" Benny pointed at the mess with open palms.

Deloria waved away his antics. Although she hated to admit it, she was quite amused. "My appetite was ruinted seven batches ago. I'll clean up." She rose from her seat and started searching the drawers for a rag.

Benny opened the one in the far corner and tossed her a white and red washrag, then he grabbed one for himself. "I'm up, I might as well help," he replied, smiling.

Deloria gritted her teeth and tried not to blush. She had to rid herself of this ridiculous attraction, soon, or she would be transferred to a new home before she knew it. She wet her rag and got to work on the counter. It took twice as long to clean up the flour as it did to get it everywhere. So when Grandma came down at six o'clock and saw them cleaning, she sighed.

"Do I even want to know?" she asked, rubbing the bridge of her nose.

"Pancakes," Benny replied drowsily. He threw his dishcloth in the basket and collaped on the couch.

Grandma sighed. "Both of you, upstairs, get some sleep. Benny, I'll call the school and tell them you had an appointment and will be in after lunch. Deloria, when he's done we'll go and get you some paint for that room." She smiled and shooed the two teenagers back to their beds.

* * *

**End of Chapter.**

**Thanks for reading.**

**Beta: TiredofBeingNice (Muchas Gracias, darling.)**

**-LeAcH**


	3. Almost First Day

**Disclaimer: I do not own MBAV, nor any characters that appear within.**

* * *

Aeternal

Chapter 3: Almost First Day

"Deloria!" Gma called from the bottom of the stairs.

Deloria put down her book and started toward the door.

The young woman in question quickly put her book aside and opened up the door. "Coming," she called, so that her guardian knew that she was on her way. She trotted down the steps and found Gma in the living room, holding a bookbag in her hand.

"Time for school," she said smiling like it was the best thing in the world, even though she knew perfectly well that it wasn't.

Deloria had to resist the urge to groan. She had greatly enjoyed her week without homework or teachers or any other students. "Can't I be homeschooled instead?" She walked down a few stairs and took a seat on the step.

Gma shook her head. "Nope! If Benny has to go, then you do." Her grin warmed up a bit. "Besides, you need to make some friends." Her fingers were twitching; Deloria was sure that if she had been close enough, she would have wrapped her up in a tight hug.

The girl in question saw the motion and started back up the stairs. "I'll go," she replied begrudgingly, then stopped at the top. Something had occurred to her "Why didn't you send me with Benny if I was going to his school?"

"I have some last minute paperwork to fill out, and I thought you'd enjoy the extra sleep on this joyous day." Gma smiled coyly and waved Deloria up the steps. "Go on. Hurry up. You'll be really late then."

Deloria shrugged. "Who knows, I might not even technically start till tomorrow," she murmured to herself while ascending the stairs. "In fact, I'll bet that's exactly what will happen."

()()()()()

Naturally, she was correct. The administration filled in Deloria's information and asked her to choose her classes. She was stuck with Art 1 and two Study Halls in addition to her required classes. She would have preferred not to have Art at all, but there weren't too many choices, and she couldn't have three study halls. Tomorrow would be fun.

In the car on the way back home, Gma asked Deloria to read her schedule to her for the fifth time. Deloria humored her her and read the first column again. "Study Hall, Chemistry, English, Geometry, Lunch, Study Hall, Art, History."

"Sounds like a full day, sweetheart. Are you excited?"

"Not really. It's going to be pretty embarrassing." She paused. "Actually, probably more on the annoying side. I've been the new girl in school before. It's a lot of not-so-secret looks and whispers. It gets kinda old."

Gma rubbed Deloria's shoulder with one hand. "I'm sorry, sweety."

Deloria shrugged. "You get used to it."

()()()()()

"So then the ninja pops around the corner and says 'Hi-ya' and something else in Japanese, but there are no subtitles in the game so I have no clue what, but I think it was something like 'You killed my father, prepare to die!'"

Ethan rolled his eyes at his best friend. He had been playing the same game, and the scene that Benny was blathering about to their non-geek friends was barely two seconds of screentime total. Ethan proceeded to stew in his irritation for the rest of the trip off campus, which was basically ten minutes of listening to Benny rattle on and on and on.

And on and on and on.

He kept rattling to just Ethan as they said goodbye to the gang. If he didn't stop soon Ethan was going to pop.

And on and on and on.

"STOP!" Ethan froze in the middle of the street and shouted. "Just tell me what you're really thinking about."

"What do you mean?" Benny replied, unperturbed.

"You! All you've been talking about is a video game that wasn't even that good and making it sound like it was the next coming. Why don't you just tell me what's really going through your head. Is it your new sister?"

"She's not my sister." His reaction was so fast that Ethan practically had whiplash. He blinked a few times to reset.

Ethan raised an eyebrow. Looks like he'd hit the start button. Now to play the game till he won. "Really?"

"Yes really. She's just a girl that my grandma happens to be fostering right now. If anything, she'd be my foster… aunt." He made a pretty disgusted face and shook his head. Ethan didn't have to be a mindreader to know that he'd had a pretty unpleasant image in his head.

"Gross. But that's not what was on your mind?" They started walking again.

Benny looked sideways at his friend and sighed. "It wasn't, but it does bring up a good point. Like you said before, the feelings I'm having, this whole situation, it's illegal."

Ethan was dumbfounded. That's what he had been thinking about this whole time? "I said that you were screwed because having a relationship beyond platonic is illegal. The feelings themselves seem perfectly normal. You like her."

"But it's wrong," Benny insisted. Ethan could tell that his friend was only trying to convince himself of that. "I can't…"

They stopped in front of their houses. "Benny," Ethan sighed. Benny was hopeless. "I think that you need to talk to Deloria. Get to know her better, and if the feelings go beyond just… attraction, tell her."

Benny stared at him for a bit, thinking, then nodded slightly. "Okay."

()()()()()

"Deloria, why don't you show your schedule to Benny. Maybe he had some of the same teachers," Grandma said over dinner.

Benny blinked at his grandmother. "Huh?" Spaghetti was dripping from his mouth. He'd flat-out refused to look at Deloria all afternoon, which, to be fair wasn't hard when she'd hidden in her room the entire time. He couldn't help but wonder what she was doing in there. It's not like she had a computer or anything yet, only those musty old books.

"Deloria is going to your school. She starts tomorrow."

"So Benny's a Junior?" Deloria asked, twirling the noodles on her fork. Benny fixated on the motion. He slurped on his dinner and choked a little bit.

Grandma nodded. "He and Ethan both."

"Ethan? The friend he had with him last week?"

"And whose house he's been hiding at all week," Grandma replied pointedly.

Benny coughed and pointed his fork at his grandma and said, "I resent that. E and I have been tearing up Ni-our homework." He backed off quickly and stuffed a meatball in his mouth.

"Nice save," Grandma replied. "So how is Ninja Pirates III?"

"Pretty awesome," Benny answered, a grin plastered on his face.

"Mmmmmhmmmm." Grandma took a bite of food and stared at her grandson. "Did you get your homework done?"

"Yes," Benny replied, completely honest. He and Ethan had actually finished their work at lunch. He switched his attention to Deloria, she was pulling her hair back behind her so that her hair wasn't mixing with her food. "So, what classes do you have?"

She recited them to him, in order, with little to no emotion, much like she did earlier with Grandma. He listened attentively, without trying to seem attentive. He found that he really liked to hear her talk.

"I can show you around tomorrow, if you want," he offered, feeling very awkward as he did so. He had a hard enough time looking at her, or talking to her. How was he going to manage walking her around his school?

She looked a bit shocked, crystal eyes latched on him and freezing his more cognitive functions. "Sure," she replied eventually. "That would be nice."

* * *

**End of Chapter 3.**

**Sorry that this has taken so long. Been busy.**

**Beta: TiredofBeingNice**

**Ever,**

**Yumi**


End file.
